April 30, 2010

That's my pinwheel!!! Mine is measuring about 57" square, I can't wait to see it completely finished! Of course, fabrics are Verna by Kate Spain for Moda. When I took my mom to the airport a couple weeks ago she stopped at my house and I showed her the individual blocks and she fell in love with them. I decided to give this to her for Mother's Day this year. She doesn't know of this blog so my secret is safe :)

This is the quilt I eluded to in my pattern review post. It's all Figgy Pudding and I can't wait to get it finished!! I'm going to use the green damask on the back and quilt it with red thread I think. Now, if I can find the pattern I had in mind for my Plume quilt then I can start cutting and get going on that beast, I'm going King size on that one!

April 21, 2010

Even with all the great patterns out there for free I still purchase them here and there. I made my first quilt from a pattern today (not yet quilted, still just a top) and thought I'd give a little review on the pattern.

Review:This quilt pattern was very easy to follow in terms of cutting and assembling the strips. When it came to assembling the blocks it was a little difficult because there was only a diagram that was sometimes hard to see where individual sets of strips and blocks were. There were measurements for each block that made it a little easier to determine what you needed.

Also, this pattern states to set aside some strips for the scrappy binding, I cut everything according to the pattern, sometimes even leaving a little selvedge and I didn't have enough strips for the binding. I made my quilt with Figgy Pudding and purchased the pattern after the Jelly Roll and decided at the time I purchased the pattern I didn't want a scrappy binding which ended up being a good decision because I didn't have enough Jelly roll strips left over.

One fun thing with this quilt is that you can switch up the framed blocks so that your quilt is a little bit different. This quilt went together VERY quickly after the cutting which is the part I loathe.

Overall I'd recommend this pattern, just be prepared to buy some binding fabric and lay out the entire top before sewing, it'll save a few head scratching moments.

April 16, 2010

my first ever embroidered tea towel. turned out ok, definitely room for improvement! one of my younger sisters is getting married next month and this is a shower gift for her. i know she won't be as critical as i am so that's a good thing. i just hope she likes it! i'm going to make her a little hanky for her something blue, at least the plans i have in my head lol!

April 15, 2010

So I just started playing with some Figgy Pudding using a pattern from Green Fairy, hopefully it'll go together quick, I want a stack of tops to quilt this summer! Any leftovers from this will be made into a ticker tape pillow to match.

I wanted to start cutting my Plume quilt out BUT! I can't find the pattern! I know the measurements, I don't know the exact number of Jelly Roll strips to cut. Plus my house got really hot today and if I turned on the A/C in April I'd have to take myself out back and beat the hell outta myself because I live in the Chicago area, we savor weather like this in April!

On a school note: I got my application for the state test!! I'll be taking it June 11th at 530pm so if I go MIA, I'm busting my ass studying for the test! Never thought the day would come where I'd be done. SQUEEEEE!!!

April 12, 2010

I'm getting down to the very last things I need for school and I'm happier than a pig in shit. Sorry for being blunt but it's the truth. I only need 10 more calls, 3 more ERs to complete and 1 more intubation. I need a couple pediatric patients, some syncopes, some OBs, some abdominal, just a smattering in a few categories.

When I first started it seemed impossible to get done, but I'm actually ahead of the game. Some of my classmates have much more to do, as of today, I have exactly 1 month before all of my paperwork is due, which I admit kinda scares me. We take our final exam May 3rd, then have another certification to complete, and review for the state test, we graduate June 1st, then take the state test that weekend. If we pass we should have our licenses by the end of June.

April 5, 2010

On March 30, 2010 we lost a firefighter in the most tragic of ways. In the Line of Duty. Brian Carey had a dream of becoming a full time firefighter and finally that dream came true 2 mos. ago. I never knew him personally but firefighters are a band of brothers and sisters that is unbreakable.

There are always what if's when you fight a fire. The best outcome is that everyone goes home when the fire is out. You always critique and play Monday morning quarterback. Could this have been different? Could that have been prevented? In the case of this fire it was speculated that there were oxygen tanks in the home. Some people are on home O2 for various reasons, COPD, emphysema, bronchitis, vent dependent, realistically it could be one of a variety of disease processes. If that home O2 tank was to blame do you think the fire department should've known about that before the fire even happened? Oxygen is not flammable but rather supports combustion, or, in other words, it just fuels the fire. Oxygen tanks are under pressure, you drop one and the valve gets damaged that tank becomes a missle that will penetrate just about anything in its path.

The number one mantra we have is scene safety. If the scene is not safe you do not enter. Obviously, fire is a different animal but you still need to make sure you're assuring personal safety. Should persons on home oxygen be required to notify the fire department that oxygen tanks are present in the home? Could that have made a difference in this fire? That tank had the potential to launch at any time under the right conditions possibly endangering the public. It's recommended that a sign be placed on the door of the home, but in the event of a blaze will that sign still be there when firefighters arrive? At the very least I believe that Oxygen tanks SHOULD be registered with the fire department, the number of cylinders, the size of the cylinders, and locations within the home. In departments with CADs this information could be at the tips of a dispatcher and s/he could notify responding departments that oxygen tanks are in the home. If CADs are not available it could be stored in binders in the engine or truck. Would you support a law of this nature? If it saved just one life it's worth it. Brian's Bill perhaps?

About Me

Hi, I'm Audrey! I'm a mom to 2 wonderful crazy kids and a kitty named Petunia. I'm currently a paramedic who loves to quilt, scrapbook, and knit. Any free time I have is spent with my kiddos or crafting.

Copyright

All images and text are copyrighted to me. I've done the courtesy of leaving a watermark off but I won't hesitate to put it on if images are being stolen. If you want to use my photos on your blog please give credit where it's due and link this blog.